Coronary heart disease is the number one killer in the western world. By detecting coronary heart disease as early as possible, appropriate, effective, and cost-effective treatment can be implemented.
However, cardiologists are faced with an ever-growing amount of data coming from a variety of different sources: imaging modalities, patient reports, ECG tracings, etc. As the number of information sources expand, extracting and assimilating all available data manually, and assessing various treatment options, becomes more and more difficult. Furthermore, with the push from managed care, cardiologists are expected to treat and manage more patients in the same amount of time.
Currently, there is considerable evidence that cardiovascular risk and disease is under-treated. Factors that account for this include gaps in knowledge, confusion over recommendations including target levels for lipids during treatment, poor doctor-patient communication, and variations in physician understanding and utilization of guidelines.
In view of the above, there exists a need for improved systems and methods for screening persons for coronary heart disease, assessing the risks of individuals patients in developing coronary heart disease, and managing patients with coronary heart disease.